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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday, January 6 equalled the record of D Devaraj Urs as Karnataka’s longest serving Chief Minister, completing 7 years and 239 days in office across two terms. Siddaramaiah first became Chief Minister in May 2013 and completed a full five-year term, becoming the first Chief Minister since Urs to serve a complete term. He returned to office in May 2023 after the Congress won the Assembly elections.
Siddaramaiah’s cumulative tenure now matches that of Urs, who served as Chief Minister between 1972 and 1977, and again from 1978 to 1980, and who is remembered for his role in land reforms and in expanding political representation for backward classes.
Siddaramaiah, responding to questions from reporters on whether his record could be broken in the future, said political milestones were not permanent. “Records are meant to be broken,” he said, drawing a sports analogy and comparing his achievement to cricketer Virat Kohli surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s records.
“I never said that no one can break my record. Someone may emerge to break my record of the longest serving Chief Minister or the one who presented the maximum budgets,” he said.
Siddaramaiah also reflected on the historical parallel with Devaraj Urs, noting that both of them hail from the Mysuru region. “A matter of pride is that Urs and I belong to Mysuru,” he said, while adding that he had never anticipated such a long political career.
“I had never thought of becoming a minister, let alone the Chief Minister. I had only thought that I would become an MLA after becoming a Taluk Board member,” he said. Recounting his electoral journey, Siddaramaiah said he had contested 13 elections in total, including local body polls. “I have so far won nine elections. I lost two Parliamentary elections and two Assembly elections,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president DK Shivakumar congratulated Siddaramaiah on reaching the milestone. In a brief statement, Shivakumar said the occasion was significant for the party and the state, and added that the government remained focused on governance and programme implementation rather than on individual records. He also dismissed speculation about leadership changes, reiterating that the party leadership had clarity on its internal arrangements and that the priority was delivering on the government’s commitments.
However, from the beginning of the current government’s term in May 2023, there have been persistent but unconfirmed reports of a power-sharing arrangement between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, despite public denials by both leaders. These reports intensified in recent months as the government crossed the halfway mark of its tenure in November 2025, though there has so far been no indication of any leadership change. Some party insiders suggest that Siddaramaiah may have sought to continue at least until surpassing Urs’s record, which he does on January 7.
Those close to the Chief Minister, however, maintain that no change is imminent and say that Siddaramaiah is preparing to present the state Budget in March. This will be his 17th Budget presentation, both as Finance Minister and as Chief Minister – the highest by any leader in the state.
As Siddaramaiah equals Urs’s record, comparisons between the two leaders have increased. While Urs governed in a very different political and economic era, both leaders are associated with welfare-oriented policies and a focus on social justice.
